Montana

Database shows 5 institutions in Montana still hold Native remains

Published

1 year ago

January 25, 2023

Database shows 5 institutions in Montana still hold Native remains

Final 12 months, workers members with the Fort Peck Cultural Useful resource Division drove virtually 500 miles from the Fort Peck Reservation to Missoula to repatriate cultural and sacred gadgets (pictured above on the Fort Peck Cultural Useful resource Division in Poplar) that had been in possession of the College of Montana. ProPublica, a nationwide investigative information group, not too long ago printed a database itemizing 5 Montana establishments, which incorporates UM, which have reported holding Native American stays and sacred gadgets.

ANTONIO IBARRA, Lee Newspapers

ProPublica, a nationwide investigative information group, earlier this month launched a database that reveals which establishments report having Native American stays, together with a number of in Montana.

Public colleges, museums and different establishments nationwide home stays and gadgets affiliated with tribes. Typically the gadgets are donated. Different instances, a faculty or museum workers member might have purchased or collected the gadgets for archaeology or analysis functions.

However in the previous few many years, there was a nationwide effort to return sacred gadgets and stays to the tribes wherein they belong. Handed in 1990, the Native American Graves Safety and Repatriation Act, generally generally known as NAGPRA, established a course of for tribes to request the return of Native stays from establishments which have them.

Greater than 30 years later, not all establishments are compliant. ProPublica reviews that at the very least half of the stays of greater than 210,000 Native Individuals haven’t been returned.

Historic pictures from Montana’s Native American boarding colleges.

Aaron Brien is the NAGPRA coordinator and tribal historic preservation officer for the Crow Tribe. He stated he hopes the database will present folks that “that is nonetheless an issue.”

“Housing human stays shouldn’t be distinctive,” he defined. “However for Native stays, the size of it’s distinctive. The housing of Native stays retains us in a relentless state of curiosity. We’re people and must be handled as people.”

Mike Durglo Jr., who’s accountable for the preservation division for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, stated he is grateful for the database.

“Any info that helps us return this stuff is appreciated,” he stated, including that the tribes are working to confirm the information. “We are going to proceed to work with these establishments, and people, who wish to assist us convey this stuff house.”

In keeping with the database, establishments proceed to carry at the very least 1,200 Native stays taken from counties of relevance to the Little Shell Tribe.

Tribal Chairman Gerald Grey stated returning such stays to tribes is “lengthy overdue.”

“These are our members, and they need to be handled with dignity and respect,” he stated. “As an alternative, they’re being saved in a field in some establishment’s basement. … It’s time to present these stays the correct burial they deserve.”

What does the database say about Montana?

UM-remains-02 — Dyan Youpee, director of the Fort Peck Cultural Useful resource Division, poses for a portrait in entrance of a show containing repatriated sacred gadgets from the College of Montana on the Fort Peck Cultural Useful resource Division in Poplar on Sept. 22. In keeping with the ProPublica database, UM reviews nonetheless holding the stays of at the very least 25 Native Individuals.

ANTONIO IBARRA, Lee Newspapers

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ProPublica’s database lists 5 Montana establishments which have reported holding Native American stays, and it outlines whether or not these establishments have made the stays accessible for return to the tribes. Beneath NAGPRA, if an establishment makes a connection between tribes and stays, the establishment should publish an inventory of tribes eligible to make a repatriation declare. When authors of the database point out establishments which have made stays “accessible for return” to tribes, they’re referring to this course of.

In keeping with the positioning, UM reviews nonetheless holding the stays of at the very least 25 Native Individuals. Up to now, UM has made accessible for return 63% of the 67 Native stays it reported to the federal authorities.

Particularly, UM has made 24 stays accessible for return to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and 18 to the Crow Tribe.

Dave Kuntz, director of strategic communications at UM, stated “it’s a prime precedence for UM leaders to work in partnership with regional tribes to repatriate artifacts and stays.”

The college hopes to rent a repatriation coordinator, whose full-time job it will be to work with tribes to return gadgets of significance, Kuntz added.

“It will take time,” he stated, including that UM will proceed to establish artifacts and stays to “guarantee repatriation happens.”

UM in August obtained $99,314 from the Nationwide Park Service to assist documentation and repatriation of such gadgets. Kuntz stated the funding will assist the brand new repatriation coordinator place.

And earlier this month, UM was awarded $325,107 from the Nationwide Endowment for the Humanities to “Indigenize heritage collections.” The challenge goals to deal with challenges in figuring out cultural affiliation for objects with obscure information.

In keeping with the database, the Montana Historic Society has made none of its reported 16 stays accessible for return.

Eve Byron, public info officer for the historic society, stated the establishment has “been engaged on returning the human stays and related burial gadgets for a while.”

She stated that the historic society has “deaccessioned” all human stays and associated funerary gadgets, which means the gadgets had been faraway from the listed holdings of the establishment. She added that the Montana Burial Preservation Board is tasked with returning stays and gadgets to the suitable tribe.

The Montana Historic Society board of trustees voted unanimously in October to return possession of Huge Drugs, a mounted white buffalo, to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.

CSKT Tribal Chairman Tom McDonald instructed the board after the vote the tribe was deeply appreciative.

“We are going to deal with this animal with the respect it deserves,” he stated on the time.

The Museum of the Rockies, positioned in Bozeman, made accessible for return 22% of the 18 Native American stays it reported having. The museum, in line with the database, has made 4 stays accessible to the Crow Tribe. And the museum reported making none of its 97 funerary objects accessible for return to tribes.

Representatives from the Museum of the Rockies didn’t reply to a request for remark.

ProPublica discovered that Montana State College’s Division of Sociology has made zero of 11 Native American stays accessible for return. It additionally has not made accessible any of the 49 funerary objects for return to tribes.

Representatives from MSU didn’t reply to a request for remark.

Carter County Museum, positioned in Ekalaka, has made all the 15 Native American stays accessible for return. The museum made stays accessible for return to twenty tribes, together with to the Fort Peck Tribes and Fort Belknap Indian Group.

What concerning the tribes?

The database can be searchable by tribe and divulges info on stays and funeral gadgets affiliated with every tribal nation in Montana, listed beneath.

Establishments have reported making 38 Native stays accessible to the Blackfeet Tribe. The tribe is eligible to assert 58 funerary objects. Establishments maintain stays of 5 Native Individuals taken from counties of curiosity to the Blackfeet.

Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes

Establishments have made 43 stays accessible for return to the CSKT, and establishments proceed to carry stays of 18 Native Individuals from counties related to the tribes.

Establishments reported making stays of greater than 2,700 Native stays accessible to the Chippewa Cree Tribe. Establishments proceed to carry stays of at the very least 2,200 Native Individuals taken from counties of curiosity to the tribe.

Fort Belknap Indian Group

Establishments have made 51 Native stays accessible for return to the FBIC and proceed to carry stays of at the very least 3,100 Native Individuals taken from counties of curiosity to the tribe. Carter County Museum has made 14 stays accessible for return to the tribe.

Establishments report making the stays of greater than 800 Native Individuals accessible for return to the Crow Tribe and proceed to carry stays of at the very least 300 Native Individuals taken from related counties.

Establishments report making greater than 1,400 stays accessible to the tribe and proceed to carry at the very least 600 Native stays taken from counties of curiosity to the tribe.

Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana

Establishments report making greater than 300 stays accessible for return to the Little Shell, and establishments proceed to carry at the very least 1,200 Native stays taken from counties of curiosity to the tribe.

Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux

Establishments report making stays of greater than 2,600 Native Individuals accessible for return to the Fort Peck Tribes, and establishments proceed to carry stays of at the very least 800 Natives taken from counties related to the tribe.

To view ProPublica’s database, go to tasks.propublica.org/repatriation-nagpra-database.

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Montana

A small plane crashes in Montana, killing the pilot and a passenger

Published

2 hours ago

May 16, 2024

Press Room

A small plane crashes in Montana, killing the pilot and a passenger

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A single-engine airplane crashed in southeastern Montana, killing the pilot and the passenger, the Federal Aviation Administration reported.

The Piper PA-18 crashed near Tillitt Field Airport east of the town of Forsyth at about 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, the FAA said. The National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the cause of the crash.

Rosebud County Sheriff Allen Fulton said they have identified the victims but weren’t releasing their names yet. The crash did not start a fire, he said.

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Montana

Alan Olson: Biden EV mandates not practical for Montana

Published

9 hours ago

May 16, 2024

Press Room

ALAN OLSON

Life in Montana takes energy.

Companies and individuals across the state have worked tirelessly over the years to ensure Montanans have the power to go about their lives in the way they want. It is part of what makes Montana the Last Best Place.

However, the Biden-Harris administration’s new EPA mandate threatens that freedom. Under the EPA’s final rule, two-thirds of vehicles sold by U.S. automakers need to be battery-powered or plug-in hybrid by 2032. Fundamentally — Montanans, and the rest of the United States, will eventually be forced to purchase an electric vehicle (EV) for their family car — no matter how expensive it is.

If Montana is to preserve a huge part of its residents’ way of life and prevent the stretching of some communities’ shallow pockets, we need all our policymakers in DC to step up to the plate and oppose this electric vehicle mandate.

As Executive Director of the Montana Petroleum Association, I have seen firsthand how hard our member companies work to provide reliable energy sources to the people of Montana. If the EPA’s mandate takes root, our member companies’ workers will suffer, as oil and gas jobs become fewer and further between.

It will also drastically increase consumer costs as a result of the mandated shifts to expensive and inefficient EV’s, which at this point simply do not support the hauling and long-distance needs of members of the oil and gas industry, or everyday Montana consumers.

Our member companies are actively addressing sustainability and climate issues, recognizing the importance of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and operating with the aim of providing Montanans with critical resources while respecting the importance of our environment — but the bottom line is that Montanans — and Americans — still rely heavily on gas- and diesel-powered vehicles, and shouldn’t be expected to scrimp in other essential areas, like groceries, just to eventually be able to afford an EV.

Kelley Blue Book reports that according to data from Cox Automotive, “the average transaction price for electric cars was $53,469 in July 2023, vs. gas-powered vehicles at $48,334.” The exponentially higher cost of an EV in addition to Montana’s rising cost of living is not insignificant. Car insurance for EVs is also costlier than gas powered vehicles, “on average, insurance for an electric car is $44 per month more expensive.” How can the government implement policies that impact Americans’ job availability and then double down by providing essentially one, expensive option for a cornerstone of their daily lives?

In addition to the financial strain this forced electric transition will have on consumers, it also heightens serious, existing concerns for Montana’s electric grid. Electrification of Montana vehicles will cause an inevitable increase in demand on our state’s limited grid capacity.

I commend Sen. Steve Daines’ and Attorney General Knudsen’s efforts to oppose this mandate, but unfortunately, it may not be enough.

We need Sen. Tester and all of our office holders to stand against this mandate from Washington, D.C. because failing to do so puts Montana consumers, and our energy security, in jeopardy.

Alan Olson is the Executive Director of the Montana Petroleum Association

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Montana Supreme Court hears arguments on permit for Laurel power plant

Published

16 hours ago

May 16, 2024

Press Room

Montana Supreme Court hears arguments on permit for Laurel power plant

HELENA — Wednesday in Helena, advocates made their case on whether the state correctly granted NorthWestern Energy a permit for their planned power plant near Laurel.

The Montana Supreme Court met before a full audience Wednesday morning, to hear oral arguments in a case that centers on whether the Montana Department of Environmental Quality did sufficient environmental analysis when approving an air quality permit for the Yellowstone County Generation Station – a 175-megawatt natural-gas-fired plant.

Jonathon Ambarian

A full audience was in attendance May 15, 2024 as the Montana Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case that centers on NorthWestern Energy’s planned Yellowstone County Generating Station near Laurel.

Last year, a state district judge in Billings vacated the permit. It came after environmental groups challenged DEQ’s decision, saying the agency hadn’t taken the required “hard look” at issues like the plant’s greenhouse gas emissions and the impact of its lighting and noise on nearby residents.

During Wednesday’s arguments, DEQ and NorthWestern defended the permitting decision and called on the Supreme Court to reverse the district court ruling.

Shannon Heim, NorthWestern’s general counsel and vice president of federal government affairs, said greenhouse gases aren’t regulated the same way as other pollutants, so DEQ didn’t have authority to regulate them. Therefore, she argued the permit can’t be vacated simply because the department didn’t review their impacts.

“The DEQ could not, in the exercise of its lawful authority, deny the permit based on greenhouse gas emissions, because there are no legal standards for greenhouse gas emissions,” she said.

Montana Supreme Court Laurel Plant — Jenny Harbine, an attorney for Earthjustice, addressed the Montana Supreme Court May 15, 2024, during oral arguments in a case that centers on NorthWestern Energy’s planned Yellowstone County Generating Station near Laurel.

Jenny Harbine, an attorney for Earthjustice, represented the plaintiffs – Montana Environmental Information Center and the Sierra Club. She argued DEQ is required to look more broadly at the possible impacts of a project, and that the emissions from the Laurel plant had to be considered in the context of the potential effects of climate change in Montana.

“Plaintiffs here are not criticizing the analysis that DEQ did do,” she said. “Our point is that there’s analysis that DEQ omitted.”

Harbine said plaintiffs are also concerned that, because the district court put a stay on its decision and NorthWestern was able to resume construction, they could begin operations without having had the full review plaintiffs believe is necessary.

Both sides in this case noted that the issues raised here overlap with those in Held v. Montana, the prominent climate change lawsuit that is also now before the Montana Supreme Court. In Held, a state district judge ruled that a law preventing regulators from considering greenhouse gas emissions in environmental reviews was unconstitutional. The 2023 Montana Legislature passed that law in response to the judge’s decision that vacated the permit for the Laurel plant.

Jeremiah Langston, an attorney for DEQ, said the department had been planning to update its review in light of that law when it was blocked. He encouraged the Supreme Court to make its decision in Held and this case at the same time or somehow tie them together.

“It would be immensely helpful to DEQ to know what laws apply to its MEPA analysis for a project,” he said.

Harbine said Held gave an example of the broad impacts of the state’s policies on climate reviews, and this case provided a specific example.

“I would just urge that whether the issue is resolved in this case or in Held – or in both, which we think is most appropriate – that it be done in a manner that prevents the constitutional infringement that would be caused when that plant begins operating and emitting greenhouse gas emissions before those emissions have been studied by DEQ,” she said.

The Supreme Court generally takes no immediate action after an oral argument, and that was again the case Wednesday.

Laurel Plant Capitol Rally — Attendees hold signs protesting against NorthWestern Energy’s planned power plant near Laurel, during a May 15, 2024, rally organized by Northern Plains Resource Council.

After the hearing, the conservation group Northern Plains Resource Council held a rally at the State Capitol, saying the possible impacts of the Laurel plant’s emissions need to be taken into account.

Those in attendance chanted “Clean and healthful; it’s our right!” – referring to the Montana Constitution’s guarantee of a “clean and healthful environment.”

Mary Fitzpatrick, a Northern Plains member, said people in Laurel and downwind of the plant in Billings have concerns about the potential health effects. MTN asked her what she thought would have changed if DEQ had taken a closer look at the plant’s greenhouse gas emissions.

“It’s hard to say – you know, just listening to the arguments, I got the impression that, possibly, nothing – except that we would know,” she said. “You can’t manage or change what you don’t measure.”

John Hines, NorthWestern’s vice president of supply and Montana government affairs, said the company sees the capacity of the Yellowstone County Generating Station as critical to make sure they can keep serving customers when other resources aren’t available. He said solar and wind production tends to be more unreliable during extreme weather, and that the company will be forced to pay more to purchase power on the open market if it doesn’t have a on-demand generation facility like this.

“The bottom line is we have to have enough electrons and enough gas on our system to meet our customers’ needs when it’s critical weather – and, you know, we saw that in January when it was -45,” he said. “That’s our first obligation. And none of the groups who are throwing out alternative proposals have that responsibility.”

Hines said, if YCGS had been in operation during the January cold snap, it could have saved customers about $12 million over six days. He said renewables are a significant part of NorthWestern’s portfolio, and that it’s unfair for opponents to accuse the company of building the plant for profit because they could make more profit by building the same capacity in renewable projects.

Hines said YCGS could be fully operational within the next month and a half. He said NorthWestern has taken steps to address some of the concerns neighbors have raised about lighting and noise.

“We’ve been operating Yellowstone now in a test mode for quite some time, and local people have been asking us when are we going to start the engines,” he said. “So obviously the noise issue has been abated.”

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